I don't normally add notes to the chapters, rather I mention things in my profile, but a question has come up a few times about the omakes, so I thought I'd take this update cycle to address it.

This story is posted first on Sufficient Velocity, and while it obviously has its detractors as is invariably the case, it also has a fairly active fan base. Many of them are authors in their own right and have come up with some very amusing omakes for the story, which always pleases me. I also have the occasional sidetrack which turns into an omake of its own. Now, some people have suggested that these should all be collected into a separate section, or series of separate postings, so as not to interrupt the flow of the story itself.

There are, mainly due to the way this site works, a number of problems with that. The most obvious one is that this would produce a lot of spoilers for the main story, as well as confusing people since there wouldn't be the background information that they'd probably want if they read them before reading 'Taylor Varga.' Another issue is that some of these omakes, mostly mine, although in a few cases those of others, have or will eventually become canon parts of the story. As and when that happens, I would either have to move them over to the main story line out of sequence, or delete and repost an enormous number of chapters to get them into the right place. Neither option appeals.

The end result is that the current method, while admittedly non-optimal, is still better from my point of view than the alternatives. If you truly don't care about the omakes, all I can do is suggest you simply skip them. They're all prominently labeled and this shouldn't pose a problem. I'm sorry if you feel this isn't ideal, I tend to agree, but we're sort of stuck with it now :)

The current rash of guest omakes dies down soon, since a couple of people were quite inspired for various reasons at that point in time.

Biosculptor's gardening tool

(By Derek M)

Miss Militia simply stared at the creature sitting in the middle of the conference room table. The three-foot-long lizard gazed blandly back at her. Below the edge of the table, her hand was cycling through a number of different weapons, from a Bowie knife, to a Desert Eagle, to brass knuckles...over and over again. Around the table, Deputy Director Renick and Glen Chambers had their mouths hanging open, while Armsmaster simply looked on impassively.

In retrospect, she should have expected something bizarre from the crazy lizards, but the meeting had been surprisingly normal until now. Saurial and Ianthe had asked for the meeting to review with them some of the products that BBFO was planning to offer on the open market. She and Armsmaster were already familiar with the collapsible batons made of EDM, and the wafer-thin armor inserts made of the same material were a brilliant concept. The panels could easily slip into standard ballistic vests, replacing the ceramic plates normally used against high penetration attacks with something that could easily withstand tinker-made weaponry. Colin had already suggested adjusting the Wards' costumes to use them to cover vital areas. Ianthe's contributions were slightly more troublesome, more due to what they represented than to what they did. The bacteria used on Coil's lair could now apparently be "primed" with a number of different types of explosives and other dangerous chemicals, and would metabolize the selected material into non-volatile remnants. The one-use healing organisms would have to go through rigorous testing, but she could easily see the utility for Endbringer fights, never mind day-to-day combat operations. This last...product...though...

"I call it the Lawn Lizard!" chirped Ianthe in a happy voice.

Chambers couldn't help but ask, "The Lawn Lizard?"

The purplish reptile nodded her head with a toothy smile. "Yes. I noticed that many humans like to keep small squares of grass in front of their houses, but they have to use machines to keep the grass short, and chemicals to keep it healthy. The Lawn Lizard handles both tasks quite handily. It eats grass, but only down to an attractive length, and as long as it gets natural sunlight, it will excrete clear, odorless fertilizer on the lawn."

"It also eats animal waste," added Saurial.

Miss Militia replied, "It eats animal...?"

"Waste, yes," nodded Saurial. "Danny Hebert suggested that based on experiences with a neighbor's pet."

"He didn't like my first suggestion," mumbled Ianthe.

"We also don't eat pets, cousin."

"Does it eat anything else?" asked Chambers with some hesitation.

Ianthe gave another very toothy smile. Miss Militia shuddered slightly.

"I'm glad you asked!" Ianthe reached over, picking the lizard up and giving it a short stroke on the back of its head. The lizard instantly went rigid along its entire length. Even Armsmaster looked slightly non-plussed at that. "If you stroke it like this, it turns into hedge trimming mode. You can replace two appliances with one animal!"

Miss Militia put her head down while Glen Chambers tried to politely explain his concerns with this product.

"It's all right, Ianthe. They liked your other products." Saurial and Ianthe were riding down in the elevator with Armsmaster as escort.

"Humans are strange. The Lawn Lizard is perfectly safe." Ianthe shook her head slightly dejectedly.

Saurial patted her on the back. "Don't worry, cousin. He can live at the Heberts' house. I'm sure they'll reconsider once they get more comfortable with Family biosculpting."

Ianthe sighed. "I didn't even get to show them home defense mode."

Colin's eyes widened a little beneath his mask. He decided in an unusually insightful manner (for him) that Hannah did NOT need to hear about that. He also felt a small amount of uncharacteristic sympathy for any burglars who decided the Hebert home was an easy mark...